39,508ft of gain in 1 month in honor of Extortion 17
On 6 August 2011, Extortion One Seven was downed by enemy fire in the Afghan Tangi Valley en route as an Immediate Reaction Force. All 38 people and a Combat Assualt Dog on board the helicopter, 31 Americans and 8 Afghan allies, perished in the event. Though I was well aware of the cost and sacrifice of taking the fight to the enemy, reading more into this event a few months later hit home for me and would end up shaping the rest of my life. This was the first time I started to think about service to the nation in a way I could best be of service, which led me to join the Air Force 5 years later after becoming a naturalized citizen and finishing grad school.
On 6 August 2023, I kicked off a project to cover at least 39,000ft (11,890m) of cumulative elevation gain in 1 month to honor the 39 service members Killed In Action. On 4 September 2023, I finished with 39,508ft of gain in the bank (across 128miles & 49 hours), improving on my previous 1 month best of 28,675ft. One of the most important things we can do to honor their sacrifice is to live a life they would be proud of. Follow your passions and take on challenging endeavours and occasionally go to places you have never been to in order to become the best version of yourself. These are the very freedoms they made the ultimate sacrifice for protecting.
Combat Assault Dog Bart as a member of Naval Special Warfare Development Group
Do not rest on your past experiences good or bad, use them as lessons learned and realize that what truly matters is what you are doing today and what you plan to do tomorrow. This project was all about reflection, intention, and discipline. The long timeline of this project made it very difficult but even more rewarding. Working through and around illness during week 1, a leg injury in week 3, and many early mornings to run the mountain before work to meet my final goal in week 4, this was a project of consistency, and learning that consistently good is better than occasionally great.
These are the types of lessons you will learn, but you wont know where those lessons come from unless you put yourself in a position for them to appear. You have to live the type of life where those lessons find you, by occasionally going to places mentally and physically that you have never been to before. It does not have to be covering 39,000ft of gain in a month, but it does involve exposing yourself to some degree of difficulty and discomfort. You will not learn these lessons from a book, social media post or motiving YouTube video, those can only guide you in a constructive direction. You have to experience it to truly learn it, only then can you extract and apply its contents to other aspects of your life.
Please take a moment and pause to honor and remember these heroes along with the 8 Afghan allies whose names were not released.
-Lieutenant Commander (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, Louisiana
-Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, California
-Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Arkansas
-Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Connecticut
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minnesota
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Massachusetts
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Missouri
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas
-Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer(Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, West Virginia
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, Louisiana
-Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Michigan
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, California
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, North Carolina
-Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah
-Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Nebraska
-Cryptologist Technician(Collection)Petty Officer 1st Class(Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Florida
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, California
-Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL)Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minnesota
-Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colorado
-Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment(General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas
-Staff Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General -Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Nebraska
* Sergeant Hamburger was posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant
-Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas
-Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas
-Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Florida
-Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, California
-Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pennsylvania
